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QUT Digital Repository: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/ Frost, Ray L. and Cejka, Jiri and Dickfos, Marilla J. (2009) Raman spectroscopic study of the mineral guilleminite Ba(UO2)3(SeO3)2(OH)4.3H2O. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 40(4). pp. 355-359. Copyright 2009 John Wiley & Sons

1 2 Raman spectroscopic study of the mineral guilleminite Ba(UO 2 ) 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4. 3H 2 O 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Ray L. Frost, 1 Jiří Čejka 1,2 and Marilla J. Dickfos 1 Inorganic Materials Research Program, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane Queensland 4001, Australia. 2 National Museum, Václavské náměstí 68, CZ-115 79 Praha 1, Czech Republic. Abstract Raman spectrum of the mineral guilleminite Ba[(UO 2 ) 3 O 2 (SeO 3 ) 2 ](H 2 O) 3 was studied and complemented by the infrared spectrum of this mineral. Both spectra were interpreted and compared with the spectra of marthozite, larisaite, haynesite and piretite, which all should have the same phosphuranylite anion sheet topology. The presence of symmetrically distinct water molecules and hydrogen bonds was inferred from the spectra. This is in agreement with the crystal structural analysis of guilleminite. U-O bond lengths in uranyl and O-H O hydrogen bond lengths were calculated from the Raman and/or infrared spectra of guilleminite. KEYWORDS: guilleminite, uranyl selenite, Raman spectroscopy, molecular water, hydrogen bonds, U-O bond length, O-H O hydrogen bond lengths INTRODUCTION The crystal chemistry of selenium(iv) oxo-compounds shows great structural versatility expressed by the great member of different compounds 1. Crystallochemical systematics of selenites was presented by Serezhkina et al. 2. Uranyl anion topology of uranyl natural and synthetic compounds inclusive uranyl selenites has been elaborated by Burns 3-6. According to Finch and Murakami 7, 1

34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 uranyl selenites occur where Se-bearing sulfide minerals are undergoing oxidation and dissolution. Demesmaekerite, derriksite, guilleminite and marthozite are from the Musonoi Cu-Co mine, near Kalwezi, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, piretite and also guilleminite from Shinkolobwe, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, haynesite and larisaite from the Repete mine, San Juan Co., Utah, U. S. A 8,9. Structures of derriksite, Cu 4 [(UO 2 )(SeO 3 ) 2 (OH) 6, and demesmaekerite, Pb 2 Cu 5 [(UO 2 )(SeO 3 ) 3 ] 2 (OH) 6 (H 2 O) 2, are characterized by infinite chains formed from uranyl and selenite ions 5,10,11, while the remaining uranyl selenite minerals, guilleminite, Ba[(UO 2 ) 3 O 2 (SeO 3 ) 2 ](H 2 O) 12 3, marthozite, Cu[(UO 2 ) 3 O 2 (SeO 3 ) 2 ](H 2 O) 8 13, haynesite, [(UO 2 ) 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 (OH) 2 ](H 2 O) 14 5, piretite, Ca[(UO 2 ) 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 ](H 2 O) 15 4, and larisaite, Na(H 3 O)[(UO 2 ) 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 O 2 ](H 2 O) 9 4 by uranyl oxo-hydroxo selenite sheets. According to Chukanov et al. 9, the general formula of guilleminite, marthozite, haynesite, piretite and larisaite is M 0-1[(UO 2 ) 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 (O,OH) 2-4 ]. nh 2 O, where a = 3-8, M = M 2+, 2M +. It is assumed that these five uranyl selenite minerals may have phosphuranylite anion sheet topology 9,16. Guilleminite is orthorhombic, a 7.084(1), b 7.293(1), c 16.881(4) Å, space group P2 1 nm, Z = 2 17. In the crystal structure of guilleminite, there are two symmetrically distinct U 6+ in the form of uranyls, (UO 2 ) 2+, and one symmetrically distinct Se 4+ in the form of (SeO 3 ) 2- and one symmetrically distinct Ba 2+. One uranyl is surrounded by six equatorial oxygens thus forming a hexagonal dipyramidal uranyl coordination polyhedron. The other two uranyls are surrounded by five equatorial oxygens thus forming a pentagonal dipyramidal uranyl coordination polyhedra. Two (UO 2 O 5 ) pentagonal dipyramids share an edge to form a (U 2 O 4 O 8 ) dimer. These dimers link to form a chain of the type (U 3 O 6 O 8 ) by sharing edges with UO 2 O 6 hexagonal dipyramids. These chains are cross-linked by (SeO 3 ) groups and form [(UO 2 ) 3 O 2 (SeO 3 ) 2 ] sheets. These strongly bonded sheets are the structural units of guilleminite with Ba 2+ cations and water molecules in the interlayers. The sheets are in fact linked by Ba 2+ cations and by hydrogen bonds 17. Infrared spectra of haynesite Author to whom correspondence should be addressed (r.frost@qut.edu.au) 2

66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 18, piretite 15, larisaite 9 have been published. Infrared spectra of haynesite and piretite were reviewed by Čejka 19. Raman and infrared spectra of haynesite 20 and marthozite were also presented. The aim of this paper is the study of Raman spectra of the natural uranyl selenite guilleminite, complemented by its infrared spectra. The paper is a part of systematic vibrational spectroscopic research of secondary minerals formed in the oxidation zone, inclusive uranyl minerals originating during hydration-oxidation weathering of primary uranium minerals, such as uraninite. Raman spectroscopy was proven most useful for the characterization of secondary uranyl containing minerals 20-38. In order to identify and characterize the Raman and infrared spectra of guilleminite, this research reports the Raman and infrared spectrum of guilleminite and relates the spectra of guilleminite to the structure of the mineral. EXPERIMENTAL Mineral The guilleminite mineral was obtained from the Mineralogical Research Company and originated from the Musonoi Mine, Kobokobo, Congo. This sample is a type mineral. The chemical composition of this mineral has been published 8 (page 268). The mineral corresponds to the formula above Ba(UO 2 ) 3 (SeO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4.3H 2 O. Raman microprobe spectroscopy The crystals of marthozite were placed and orientated on the stage of an Olympus BHSM microscope, equipped with 10x and 50x objectives which was part of a Renishaw 1000 Raman microscope system, also including a monochromator, filter system and Charge Coupled Device (CCD). Raman spectra were excited by a HeNe laser (633 nm) at a resolution of 2 cm -1 in the range between 100 and 4000 cm -1. Repeated acquisition using the highest magnification was accumulated to improve the signal to noise ratio. Spectra were calibrated using the 520.5 cm -1 line of a silicon wafer. Spectroscopic manipulation such as baseline adjustment, smoothing and 3

100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 normalisation were performed using the Spectracalc software package GRAMS (Galactic Industries Corporation, NH, USA). Band component analysis was undertaken using the Jandel Peakfit software package, which enabled the type of fitting function to be selected and allows specific parameters to be fixed or varied accordingly. Band fitting was done using a Gauss-Lorentz cross-product function with the minimum number of component bands for the fitting process. The Gauss-Lorentz ratio was maintained at values greater than 0.7 and fitting was undertaken until reproducible results were obtained with squared correlations of r 2 greater than 0.995. Further details on the manipulation of the data has been published 20,22,24,28,29,32,34,38-40. Infrared spectroscopy Infrared spectra were obtained using a Nicolet Nexus 870 FTIR spectrometer with a smart endurance single bounce diamond ATR cell. Spectra over the 4000 525 cm -1 range were obtained by the co-addition of 64 scans with a resolution of 4 cm -1 and a mirror velocity of 0.6329 cm/s. Spectra were co-added to improve the signal to noise ratio. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 The free linear uranyl group (UO 2 ) 2+, symmetry D h, has four normal vibrations, but only three fundamentals: the ν 1 symmetric stretching vibration, Raman active (approximately 900-700 cm -1 ), the ν 2 (δ) doubly degenerate bending vibration, infrared active (approximately 300-200 cm -1 ), and the ν 3 antisymmetric stretching vibration, infrared active (approximately 1000-850 cm -1 ). Distortion of the uranyl group or change in the local symmetry can result in the removal of the degeneracy and therefore Raman activation of the ν 2 mode and infrared activation of the ν 1 mode. The chemistry of the selenite ion and selenite containing compounds resembles the chemistry of the sulphite ion and its compounds. The symmetry of the selenite ions is similar to that of sulphite, which is tetrahedral with one vacant orbital thus making C 3v symmetry 41.The selenite ion thus has four fundamentals: the ν 1 symmetric stretching vibrations (approximately 790-806 or 760-855 cm -1, the ν 2 4

132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 symmetric bending vibration (approximately 430-461 cm -1 ), the ν 3 doubly degenerate antisymmetric stretching vibration (714-769 or 680-775 cm -1 ), and the ν 4 doubly degenerate antisymmetric bending vibration (approximately 387-418 cm -1 ). All vibrations are Raman and infrared active [Frost et al., submitted]. The degeneracy of the antisymmetric ν 3 and ν 4 modes of the (SeO 3 ) 2- may be removed due to the lowering of its site symmetry in the unit cell. The Raman spectra of guillimenite in the 100 to 900 cm -1 region and 1400 to 1700 cm -1 are shown in Figures 1 and 2 respectively. The infrared spectra of guilleminite in the 550 to 1100 cm -1, 1250 to 1700 cm -1 and 2500 to 3750 cm -1, are shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Raman band (infrared bands are given in parentheses) at 831 (814) cm -1 is assigned to the ν 1 (UO 2 ) 2+, however, it may be also related to the ν 1 (SeO 3 ) 2-. No Raman band was attributed to the ν 3 (UO 2 ) 2+. Infrared bands at 877 and 912 cm -1 are assigned to the ν 3 (UO 2 ) 2+. The U-O bond lengths in uranyl may be calculated with two empirical relations using wavenumbers of the stretching uranyl vibrations [R U-O = 0.575 + 106.5ν -2/3 1 Å, and R U-O = 0.804 + 91.41ν -2/3 3 Å, Bartlett and Cooney 42, Obtained calculated U-O bond lengths (Å/cm -1 ) 1.780/831, 1.797/814, 1.802/877 and 1.776/912 are in close agreement the average U-O bond length 1.795 Å, inferred from the X-ray single crystal structure of guilleminite 17. Raman band at 812 cm -1 was assigned to the ν 1 (UO 2 ) 2- in marthozite [Frost et al., submitted] and haynesite 20. Infrared bands at 879 and 820 cm -1 in the spectrum of marthozite [Frost et al., submitted] and at 898 and 815 cm -1 in the spectrum of piretite were attributed to the ν 3 (UO 2 ) 2+ and ν 1 (UO 2 ) 2+, respectively. Chukanov et al. 9 assigned the infrared band at 901 cm -1 in the spectrum of larisaite to the uranyl stretching vibration. Thus Raman spectra of uranyl selenite minerals possessing the phosphuranylite anion sheet topology are comparable in this region. 160 161 162 163 164 Raman band at 747 (753, 782) cm -1 is attributed to the ν 3 (SeO 3 ) 2- vibrations. Raman band at 675 (692) cm -1 may be related to the libration mode of water molecules. Raman band at 544 cm -1 is probably connected with the libration mode of water molecules and/or to the ν (U-O ligand ) vibrations. Raman bands at 478 cm -1 and 5

165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 345 and 419 cm -1 are attributed to the ν 2 and ν 4 (SeO 3 ) 2- vibrations, respectively. The ν 2 (δ) (UO 2 ) 2+ was observed in the Raman spectrum at 245 cm -1, while the band at 150 cm -1 may be assigned to the lattice vibrations. Infrared spectrum of Sr[(UO 2 ) 3 O 2 (SeO 3 ) 2 ](H 2 O) 4, observed in this region is as follows: 909 cm -1 (ν 3 (UO 2 ) 2+ ), 865 cm -1 (ν 1 (UO 2 ) 2+ - this interpretation is probably not correct, according to the formulas ν 1 = 0.94ν 3 cm -1 and ν 1 = 0.89 ν 3 + 21 cm -1, the wavenumber of the ν 1 (UO 2 ) 2+ should be close to 854 or 830 cm -1 - for details see e.g. Čejka 1999 19 ), 839, 814, 725, 615 cm -1 43. The structure of this synthetic compounds contains twodimensional [(UO 2 ) 3 (O 2 )(SeO 3 ) 2 ] 2- sheets with the same phosphuranylite anion sheet topology as those found in guilleminite, marthozite and larisaite, and expected also in piretire and haynesite. 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 Infrared band at 1011 cm -1 is assigned to the δ UOH bending vibration. In this region, infrared bands were observed in the infrared spectra of marthozite (1120, 1096, 1049 and 1027 cm -1 [Frost et al. submitted], larisaite (1044 and 1095 cm -1 ) 9 and haynesite (1168, 1116, 1081 and 1036) [Čejka et al. 1999]. Chukanov et al. 9 assume that some of these bands together with some other at different wavenumbers may be connected with the (H 3 O) + bending vibrations and that especially haynesite contains hydroxonium cations and may be formulated as (H 3 O) 2 [(UO 2 ) 3 (OH) 4 (SeO 3 ) 2 ].H 2 O. However, marthozite does not contain any hydroxonium ions and some bands in the mentioned region may be also observed. Chukanov et al. 9 assigned a band at 1732 cm -1 in the infrared spectrum of haynesite to the doubly degenerate bending vibration of hydroxonium ions. It is more probable that this infrared band may be attributed to the combination (ν 1 + ν 3 (UO 2 ) 2+ ) band, and some bands in the region 1000-1200 cm -1 may be connected with the combination (ν 1 + ν 2 (UO 2 ) 2+ and/or (ν 3 + ν 2 (UO 2 ) 2+ ) bands. Frost et al. did not infer the presence of hydroxonium ions in the structure of haynesite in their Raman spectroscopic study of the uranyl selenite mineral haynesite. 20 Infrared bands observed at 1403, 1424 and 1514 cm -1 and Raman band at 1514 cm -1 may be connected with overtones and/or combination bands. Raman band at 1585 cm -1 and two infrared bands at 1614 and 1652 cm -1 are assigned to the δ H 2 O bending vibration. Two bands observed in the infrared spectrum prove that 6

198 199 200 structurally nonequivalent (symmetrically distinct) water molecules are present in the crystal structure of guilleminite which is an agreement with X-ray single crystal structure data 17. 201 202 203 204 205 206 The ν OH stretching vibrations of water molecules are observed in the infrared spectrum of guilleminite at 3552, 3463, 3293, 3082 cm -1. These wavenumbers correspond with O-H O hydrogen bond lengths 3.0, 2.86, 2.75 and 2.68 Å 44. These values are close those inferred from the X-ray single crystal structure analysis of guilleminite 17. 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 CONCLUSIONS Raman and infrared spectra of uranyl selenite mineral guilleminite were measured, tentatively interpreted and partly compared with the spectra of marthozite, larisaite, haynesite, piretite and synthetic Sr[(UO 2 ) 3 O 2 (SeO 3 ) 2 ](H 2 O) 4. All these compounds should have the same phosphuranylite anion sheet topology. 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 The presence of symmetrically distinct water molecules and hydrogen bonds was inferred from the spectra. Observed hydrogen bonds are in agreement with the crystal structure of guilleminite. U-O bond lengths in uranyls and O-H O hydrogen bond lengths were inferred from the spectra with empirical relations by Bartlett and Cooney 45 and Libowitzky 44, respectively.. Acknowledgements The financial and infra-structure support of the Queensland University of Technology Inorganic Materials Research Program of the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences is gratefully acknowledged. The Australian Research Council (ARC) is thanked for funding. 230 231 7

232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 References 1. Koskenlinna, M. Ph. D. Thesis, Helsinky 1996. 2. Serezhkina, LB, Rastsvetaeva, RK, Serezhkin, VN. Koord. Khim. 1990; 16: 1327. 3. Burns, PC. Can. Miner.2005; 43: 1839. 4. Burns, PC. Mat. Res. Soc. Symposium Proc. 2004; 802: 89. 5. Burns, PC. Rev. Min. 1999; 38: 23. 6. Burns, PC. Am. Min.1997; 82: 1176. 7. Finch, R, Murakami, T. Rev. Min.1999; 38: 91. 8. Anthony, JW, Bideaux, RA, Bladh, KW, Nichols, MC Handbook of Mineralogy; Mineral Data Publishing: Tuscon, Arizona, USA, 2000; Vol. 4. 9. Chukanov, NV, Pushcharovsky, DY, Pasero, M, Merlino, S, Barinova, AV, Möckel, S, Pekov, IV, Zadov, AE, Dubinchuk, VT. Euro. J. Min. 2004; 16: 367. 10. Ginderow, D, Cesbron, F. Act. Crys. 1983; C39: 824. 11. Ginderow, D, Cesbron., F. Act. Crys. 1983; C39: 1605. 12. Cooper, MA, Hawthorne, FC. Can. Min. 1995; 33: 1103. 13. Cooper, MA, Hawthorne, FC. Can. Min. 2001; 39: 797. 14. Deliens, M, Piret, P. Can. Min. 1991; 29: 561. 15. Vochten, R, Blaton, N, Peeters, O, Deliens, M. Can. Min. 1996; 34: 1317. 16. Burns, PC. Can. Min. 2005; 43: 1839. 17. Cooper, MA, Hawthorne, FC. Can. Min. 1995; 33: 1103. 18. Cejka, J, Sejkora, J, Deliens, M. Neues Jahr. Min., 1999: 241. 19. Cejka, J. Rev. Min.1999; 38: 521. 20. Frost, RL, Weier, ML, Reddy, BJ, Cejka, J. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 816. 21. Frost, RL, Dickfos, MJ. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 1516. 22. Frost, RL, Cejka, J. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 1488. 23. Locke, AJ, Martens, WN, Frost, RL. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 1429. 24. Frost, RL, Cejka, J, Ayoko, GA, Weier, ML. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 1311. 25. Frost, RL, Bouzaid, JM. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 873. 26. Frost, RL, Pinto, C. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 841. 27. Frost, RL, Weier, ML, Williams, PA, Leverett, P, Kloprogge, JT. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 574. 28. Frost, RL, Cejka, J, Weier, ML. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 460. 29. Frost, RL, Cejka, J, Weier, ML, Martens, WN, Ayoko, GA. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 398. 30. Frost, RL, Bouzaid, JM, Martens, WN, Reddy, BJ. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 135. 31. Frost, RL, Palmer, SJ, Bouzaid, JM, Reddy, BJ. J. Raman Spec. 2007; 38: 68. 32. Frost, RL, Cejka, J, Weier, M, Ayoko, GA. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 1362. 33. Frost, RL. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 910. 34. Frost, RL, Cejka, J, Weier, M, Martens, WN. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 879. 35. Frost, RL, Musumeci, AW, Kloprogge, JT, Adebajo, MO, Martens, WN. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 733. 36. Frost, RL, Henry, DA, Weier, ML, Martens, W. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 722. 37. Frost, RL, Weier, ML, Cejka, J, Kloprogge, JT. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 585. 38. Frost, RL, Cejka, J, Weier, ML, Martens, W. J. Raman Spec. 2006; 37: 538. 8

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294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 List of Figures Figure 1 Raman spectrum of guilleminite in the 100 to 900 cm -1 region. Figure 2 Raman spectrum of guilleminite in the 1400 to 1700 cm -1 region. Figure 3 Infrared spectrum of guilleminite in the 550 to 1100 cm -1 region. Figure 4 Infrared spectrum of guilleminite in the 1250 to 1650 cm -1 region. Figure 5 Infrared spectrum of guilleminite in the 2500 to 3700 cm -1 region. 10

305 306 307 Figure 1 11

308 309 310 Figure 2 311 312 12

313 314 315 Figure 3 316 317 13

318 319 320 Figure 4 321 322 14

323 324 325 Figure 5 15